Agricultural robot starts UK trials

IBEX is designed to operate on remote farmland where it is uneconomical to spray manually, or too dangerous to drive with a tractor or ATV. The initial test will see it operate on steep grassland in dairy and sheep farms.

Using treads to reduce ground pressure and enhance mobility, IBEX is capable of operating on slopes of up to 45 degrees. The 1m long robot employs a combination of sensors and Bayesian machine learning software to navigate autonomously, covering a user-defined area or an optimised route.

A video and data link is always active, allowing a supervisor to intervene if required or if the control systems determine that user input is necessary.

"IBEX is the first agricultural robot designed to tackle extreme agricultural environments such as the Yorkshire hill farms," said Dr Charles Fox, project manager of IBEX at Hunshelf Hall Farm.

"Taking the concept beyond university labs and overcoming extreme terrain mobility limitations, we designed and built IBEX to military standards, to go where other vehicles can't operate and to tackle a real world problem affecting many farmers around the UK.”